Children and adolescents with complex medical conditions are often uprooted from their environments and isolated in hospital while undergoing treatment. Little is known about how they perceive this isolation and its subsequent impact on their relationships with peers, both during and after isolation for treatment. This study describes the experience of hospital isolation from the perspectives of children and adolescents with a malignant brain tumor. The use and impact of information and communication technologies (ICT) as a possible bridge for contact is also explored. Following a qualitative approach utilizing interpretive phenomenological analysis, in-depth interviews were conducted with eight youth participants who had undergone treatment for medulloblastoma. Data analysis generated three main themes (1) transforming children and relationships, (2) hospitalization in a digital world, and (3) ICTs as a promising bridge back to school. Study findings provide insight into the experience of hospital isolation for children and adolescents, while highlighting the positive social as well as academic outcomes of frequent, open ended ICT use throughout hospital isolation. https://www.selleckchem.com/products/elexacaftor.html This is timely, given the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and its resulting isolation. Considerations for hospital social workers to promote relationships and connection, while facilitating a smooth transition as these children return to school are included.Sport is a foundational context for social, emotional, physical, and psychological development. The COVID-19 pandemic displaced many youth from their normative sport activities. As a result, sport-based positive-youth development (PYD) programs, typically delivered in person, had to reimagine ways to reach and engage youth in sport and life skill development. In fall 2020, The Los Angeles Football Club Youth Leadership Program (LAFC YLP) developed seven virtual sport-based PYD videos and one workshop for 120 socially vulnerable youth and their families. All virtual activities were designed to teach life skills through sport and play. Our study sought to explore the accessibility of the virtual sport-based PYD activities, the lived experiences of youth participants during lockdown, and learning outcomes of youth and families who participated in the program. We developed a mixed methods study using an online survey and virtual platform to allow youth to share photos, draw pictures, and leave comments about their lived experiences. Our findings indicated 53 youth and their families participated in the virtual sport-based PYD program and reported the activities were accessible, enjoyable, and challenging for the youth participants. In addition, 26 youth shared photos, images, or posts about their lived experiences. Our thematic analysis of the photos, images, and posts indicated the virtual sport-based PYD activities facilitated positive emotional responses, positive peer interaction, engagement with family, and utilization of environmental resources during the COVID-19 pandemic. Importantly, our findings also suggest virtual sport-based PYD activities may facilitate life skill transfer; an important developmental mechanism for learning in lieu of the decreased opportunities for sport and social interaction during the COVID-19 pandemic.The need for housing is an important concern for most women about to be released from prison, especially by those that need substance use treatment. This study explored the association between housing settings, relationships, and substance use. Two hundred adult females that had endorsed previous incarceration within the past two years participated in the initial baseline study. This study used multi-level modeling to analyze if housing settings and/or relationships within a living condition are associated with substance use. Results indicated that participants in homeless, and mutual settings used substances significantly more than participants in their own house or apartment. Participants that were in controlled, residential and transitional settings used significantly less than those living in their own house or apartment. Living with parents, family, or sexual partner significantly increased substance use. Utilizing these results to plan housing arrangements before women are released from correctional facilities may be beneficial for substance use recovery. Currently, there is no literature that directly measures the relationship between distinct housing settings, as well as the relationships that exist within them and substance use.Specific inhibition of the viral RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) of the newly-emerged severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a very promising strategy for developing highly potent medicines for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). However, almost all of the reported viral RdRp inhibitors (either repurposed drugs or new antiviral agents) lack selectivity against the SARS-CoV-2 RdRp. Herein, I discovered a new favipiravir derivative, ()--(4-cyanobenzylidene)-6-fluoro-3-hydroxypyrazine-2-carboxamide (cyanorona-20), as the first potent SARS-CoV-2 inhibitor with very high selectivity (209- and 45-fold more potent than favipiravir and remdesivir, respectively). Based on the significant reduction in the in vitro SARS-CoV-2 replication/copies, strong computational cyanorona-20 ligand-RdRp protein interactions, and anti-RdRp activity of the parent favipiravir drug, SARS-CoV-2 inhibition is thought to be mediated through the coronaviral-2 RdRp inhibition. This promising selective anti-COVID-19 compound is also, to the best of our knowledge, the first bioactive derivative of favipiravir, the known antiinfluenza and antiviral drug. This new nucleoside analog was designed, synthesized, characterized, computationally studied (through pharmacokinetic calculations along with computational molecular modeling and prediction), and biologically evaluated for its anti-COVID-19 activities (through a validated in vitro anti-COVID-19 assay). The results of the biological assay showed that cyanorona-20 surprisingly exhibited very significant anti-COVID-19 activity (anti-SARS-CoV-2 EC?=?0.45μM), and, in addition, it could be also a very promising lead compound for the design of new anti-COVID-19 agents. Cyanorona-20 is a new favipiravir derivative with promise for the treatment of SARS-CoV-2 infection.
The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11696-021-01640-9.
The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11696-021-01640-9.